


I may have helped An Evil Wizard. Oops!

by Drachma20



Series: Harriet Potter and a bunch of bad descisions [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Evil Dumbledore, Evil Ron, Female Harry, Genius Harry, Good Slytherins, I need a beta, Not Beta Read, Slytherin Harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-07-16 05:44:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 20,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7254886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drachma20/pseuds/Drachma20
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And helped a dark lord escape. Oops!</p><p>Harry (Harriet) Potter and her first year at hogwarts. After getting sorted into slytherin and being called a traitor by the other three houses things start going to hell pretty quickly. And on top of that her friend Pansy almost gets eaten by a troll. Great. Just great really.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I almost fed my cousin to a snake.

**Author's Note:**

> Please bear in mind that I have never written a fanfiction before when your rear this. Friendly critisizem is appreciated. Haters will be ignored. Thanks. Enjoy.

"Up! Get up! Now!"  
Harriet woke with a start and banged her head on a shelf in the closet she slept in. Her aunt rapped on the door again.  
"Up!" She screeched and stalked off.  
Harriet sighed and got up coughing as her cousin thundered down the stairs sending a dust shower onto her head. She waited until he was in the kitchen with his mother and father. Then she dragged herself up and into the kitchen where she was greeted by "Get a move on. I want you to cook breakfast. And don't you dare let it burn. I want everything perfect on my Diddykins special day."  
Harriet rolled her eyes and started cooking breakfast whilst Dudley counted his presents.  
"Thirty-six?" He asked Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia incredulously.  
"Darling, you haven't counted aunt Marge's present. See, it's under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."  
"Thirty seven then." Dudley said going red in the face.  
"Oh boy.” Harriet muttered sensing danger.  
Petunia sensed this too because she immediately said "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out. How about that? Two more presents."  
Dudley thought for a moment. Harriet dimly wondered wether or not he actually had the brain cells for simple calculation.  
"Then I'll have...I'll have.."  
"Thirty nine sweetums." Aunt Petunia said.  
"Oh alright then." Dudley said and sat down and began opening his presents.  
After breakfast the Dursley took Dudley and Harriet to the zoo. Dudley because it was his birthday and Harriet because no-one would or could take her for the day.  
It was incredibly boring for the main part and Harriet had to imagine the animals in the cage being people she didn't like to not fall asleep.  
The reptile house changed everything.  
Inside it was cold, dark and slightly damp.  
Dudley oggled at the snakes, rapping the glass and trying to get them to move. After a while he got bored and moved away.  
"Sorry about him," Harriet offered an apology," He doesn't know what it's like to be stared at day after day while people press their ugly faces against the glass."   
The snake raised it's head.  
"You can understand me?” she gasped. The snake nodded.  
"So where are you from?"  
The snake jabbed it's head in the direction of sign next to it's cage. It read BOA CONSTRICTOR, BRAZIL.  
"Brazil, huh? Was it nice there?"  
The snake jabbed it's head again.  
"Bred in captivity. Oh, I see. I never knew my parents either."  
The snake cocked it's head sympathetically.  
"Mom, Dad get over here. You won't believe what the snake is doing!" Dudley yelled running over and knocking Harriet to the ground and pressing his face against the glass.  
One moment later, the glass was gone. Dudley fell forward and into the cage with a splash. Harriet laughed. The snake slithered out and turned to her saying "thanksss amiga." before it slithered out of the reptile house. Dudley made to get out of the snakes cage only to find out that the glass had been replaced. In the end, and with the help of several zoo keepers, they managed to get him out.  
Harriet was locked in her closet. At least she had the memory of the zoo incident to laugh at.


	2. The house gets attacked by letters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically what it says in the chapter title.

By the time Harriet was let out of her closet the summer holidays had already started. The good news was that school was out. The bad, Dudley had more than enough time to play his favourite game - Harry Hunting. Due to this Harriet spent most of her time outside and up trees to avoid getting punched.  
One morning, Uncle Vernon brought up the subject of owls. When Petunia asked why, he said he had seen them flying about in broad daylight and sent Harriet to get the post. There were bills, a postcard and a letter- for her! She didn't know what to think. She was certain that it was a mistake but somehow, she couldn't help but think it was really meant for her.  
She handed Vernon the bills and the postcard and sat down with the letter. Witch was immediately snatched away from her by Dudley.  
"Dad, Harriet's got a letter. "  
"Give it back. That's mine!" She yelled.  
"Yours? Who'd be writing to you? " Vernon asked. He looked at the letter and paled.  
"Closet. Now. Dudley go to your room. "  
"But-" both of them tried to protest.  
"NOW!" Vernon bellowed. They both ran for it. Once inside her closet Harriet slumped to the ground sighing.  
The next day 4 letters arrived. Aunt Petunia shredded them in the blender. The day after that 12 letters were burnt in the fireplace and the day after that 23 were torn apart by Vernon, personally.  
On Sunday, Uncle Vernon was in a very good mood. "Lovely day, Sunday. No post." He said.  
Something whizzed past his face. It had come from the fireplace which started to rumble, shaking the entire house. Letter after letter zoomed out. They all ran for it. Vernon dragging Harriet who was trying to grab one of the letters. They were addressed to her after all.  
"We're going away. Far away. Where they can't find us." He yelled.  
"Dad's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked clutching onto his mother.  
They all piled into the car. Uncle Vernon stomped down on the gas pedal and drove down the lane faster than legally allowed. It started to rain. Their first stop was outside a shop. Vernon told the others to stay in the car, got out and walked into the shop. He returned a while later with a longish package that he stored in the trunk of the car. The next stop was at a hotel. As it turned out they had received 107 of the letters via the front desk. Uncle Vernon checked them out immediately and drove away from the hotel as quickly as possible.  
A few hours later Vernon had found a new accommodation for them. A hut somewhere near the coast. It was dark and dusty. Frankly, it looked like a haunted house. A storm raged outside. Petunia and Vernon took the bed upstairs, Dudley got the old couch and Harriet got the floor. They all fell asleep when suddenly there was a 'BOOM' that shook the entire shack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment or Kudo.  
> Tell me if I made any mistakes.  
> Thanx.


	3. The Giant in the room.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harriet gets away from the Dursley's .

BOOM!  
Dudley woke with a jolt and demanded to know where the canon was. There was a crash and Vernon skidded into the room holding a rifle.  
'So that was in that package. ' Harriet thought.  
"Who's there? I warn you, I'm armed. " Vernon shouted.  
There was a pause and then- Smash! The door was off it's hinges. A giant of a man was standing in the doorway his face almost completely hidden by a shaggy mane of hair and a wild tangled beard. He squeezed his way into the hut , paused for a moment , then said ,"Sorry 'bout that."  
Then he lifted the door back onto it's hinges as if it was the easiest thing in the world. He strode over to the sofa and sat down causing Dudley to squeak and run to hide behind his mother who was cowering behind uncle Vernon.  
"Hello Harriet, last time I saw you, you were only a baby. You look a lot like your dad but you've got your mother's eyes."  
Vernon made a funny rasping noise.  
"I demand that you leave at once sir,you are breaking and entering ." He said.  
"Shut up you great prune. "Said the giant. He reached over the back of the sofa,jerked the gun out of Vernon's hands , bent it into a knot and tossed it into the corner of the room.  
"Who are you? " Harriet asked suddenly.  
" Reubeus Hagrid, keeper of keys at Hogwarts. You'll know all about Hogwarts obviously. "  
"Sorry, but I don't. "  
"What? Did you never wonder where your parents learnt it all?"  
"All what?"  
"ALL WHAT? NOW WAIT A SECOND! DURSLEY. DO YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT THIS GIRL-THIS GIRL! DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING? "  
"I know some things like maths and science. "  
Hagrid waved it off. "I meant about our world. My world. Your world. Your parents world. "  
"What world?"  
"DURSLEY! "  
Uncle Vernon muttered something along the lines of 'mimblewimble'. Hagrid stared at Harriet  
"But you must know something about your parents. They're famous, you're famous. "  
"What?"  
"You don't know who you are? "  
Vernon found his voice.  
"Stop there sir. I forbid you to tell him anything. "  
A braver man would have cowered under the look Hagrid gave Vernon.  
"You've kept it from her all these years. ?"  
"Kept what from me?" Harriet asked.  
"I forbid you to tell her. " Vernon bellowed.  
"Harriet, you're a witch.  
" That's not very nice."  
"No I mean you have magic."  
"Really?"  
"Yes. As I recon it's about time you read your letter." Hagrid said handing her the letter. Harriet took the letter and read it. When she had finished questions exploded in her head. She remained quiet deciding it would be a good idea to wait until the Dursley's were gone . Hagrid pulled an owl from inside his overcoat and sent it off with a note in its beak. Harriet wondered how long the old had been stuck inside the coat.  
"She's not going. " Vernon stated firmly.  
"I'd like to see a great Muggle like you try to stop her."  
"We swore we would put a stop to that. We swore we would stamp that rubbish out of her. Witch, indeed. "  
"You knew! ?" Harriet asked.  
"Knew! Of course we knew.How could you not be. My wretched sister was one. The day she got her letter my parents were so proud. Only I saw what she really was. A freak. An abomination. Then she met potter, they got married and had you. I knew you'd be just as abnormal. And then, if you please, she got herself blown up and we got landed with you. Harriet had gone whiteam with rage. "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!"  
"LILLY AND JAMES POTTER. DIE IN A CAR CRASH? OUTRAGEOUS! HARRIET NOT KNOWING HER STORY WHEN EVERY KID KNOWS HER NAME!"  
"But why? What happened. Tell me. " Harriet said.  
" I never expected this. That you didn't know anything about the world. Well it's best you know as much as I can tell you. It begins with a wizard who went as bad as you can go. People are still scared."  
"Who?"  
"His name was v- . V-"  
"Mabyn you should write it down? "  
"Can't spell it. Alright, Voldemort. Don't make me say it again. Anyway you-know-who was looking for followers 20 years ago . He got them too. Some wanted power, others were scared. Dark days. Your mother and father fought. He killed them. And then he tried to kill you but you survived and that's the mystery. No one knows how or why. You were only a baby and you lived." Hagrid said.  
"What happened to you-know-who? "  
"Some say he died. But I reckon he's still out there biding his time until he can come back."  
Hagrid looked at her with pride and respect.  
"She's not going! " Vernon snapped.  
"If she wants to go she will go and a Muggle like you can't stop her."  
"I AM NOT PAYING SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HER MAGIC TRICKS!"  
"NEVER- INSULT- ALBUS - DUMBLEDORE -IN - FRONT OF ME! "  
He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley. There was a flash of violet and a squeal and the next second Dudley had a pigs tail. Vernon pulled Petunia and Dudley into another room immediately.  
After promising not to tell anyone at hogwarts about the incident Harriet to a corner and fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment or Kudo.  
> Thanx.  
> Friendly critisizem is appreciated.


	4. Hop in witch, we're going shopping!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry gets her school supplies. Draco is introduced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I had a short writers block going on.

Harriet woke up early and looked around. She immediately noticed that last night had been reality. A bubble of joy began to fill her. She could get away from the Dursley's and learn magic. An owl tapped at the window. She leapt up to let it in. It swooped over to Hagrid and dropped a newspaper on his face. Then it proceeded to attack his coat. Grumbling, he got up and gave it 5 Knuts. Then he turned to Harriet.  
"Best be off then, lots to do. Gotta get ya to London to buy your things."  
"Erm, quick question. How am I supposed to pay for all of it. I mean Vernon won't so unless my parents left me some money, I'm going to be unable to pay for anything.” Harriet said.  
"Yer parents left you a bit at Gringotts the wizarding bank. Now let's get going.”  
A few hours later, they arrived in London. Harriet had practically memorized the equipment list.  
"So, Where do we buy all this?" Harriet asked.  
“Don't worry. I know where to go.”  
A few minutes later they walked into a pub called the leaky cauldron. It was a grubby looking place. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid because they smiled and waved at him. The barman reached for a glass saying, “the usual Hagrid?"  
"Can't Tom, I'm here on Hogwarts business. Harriet needs to get her things." Hagrid said clapping her on the shoulder causing her knees to buckle.  
"Bless my soul. It's Harriet Potter! " Tom rushed around the bar and shook her hand, "Welcome back Ms. Potter. Welcome back. "  
Almost immediately everyone got up to shake her hand. A witch named Doris Crockford kept coming back. In total it took them 1/2 an hour to get away from the crowd. She had also met one of her future teachers (Professor Quirrel if she remembered correctly ). They went out the back door where Hagrid opened a hole in a wall which led to diagonal alley. The place was full of witches and wizards. There were elaborate and slightly over decorated buildings on either side of the street. Harriet decided she liked it. The street had character. Eventually they reached a tall white building. The walked inside of what Harriet presumed was the bank. Behind the desks on either side sat creatures that Harriet didn't recognise. The had pointy teeth and long pointed ears.  
"Hagrid, what are they?" she asked.  
"Those Harriet, are goblins. Smart creatures. Not very friendly though.”  
They stopped at the end desk. Hagrid cleared his throat.  
"Ms. Harriet Potter wishes to enter her vault.”  
"Oh,” the goblin said, "Does Ms. Potter have her key?”  
"One second. I've got it here somewhere." Hagrid started rummaging around in his endless pockets.   
"Ah, here we go.'" He said a few minutes later, handing the goblin the key, "Oh, and there is something else."   
He handed over a letter.  
"Its about the you know what in vault you know which one."  
"Very well. Follow me." the goblin said and led them to a cart. They climbed in. Hagrid having some difficulty with it.  
The cart shot down the track doing twists and turns like a roller coaster. Harriet held onto her glasses with one hand and onto the seat with the other. She was having a lot of fun despite the fact that she felt as if she was going to be thrown out of her seat.  
At last, they stopped at her vault. The goblin unlocked it and she stepped in. She stared. The walls were covered in shelves practically overflowing with silver and gold. There were mountains of coins on the floor. Harriet scooped a lot of silvery and gold coins into a pouch Hagrid had given her earlier. She also took a few bronze just in case and paid close attention to the explanation of wizarding currency that Hagrid was giving her. Then they climbed back in the cart.  
A few minutes later they stopped at vault 317. Harriet got excited. This was the vault that Hagrid and the goblin had been so secretive about.  
There had to be something really extraordinary in this vault. The goblin stepped forward.  
"Stand back." He ordered, "If anyone but a goblin tries to open this door the will be sucked through the door and trapped inside."  
"How often do you check? " Harriet asked .”  
"Oh, once every 10 years.”  
The goblin pressed his hand against the door. Harriet faintly heard locks clicking open and bolts moving. Then the door swung open. Hagrid stepped in and grabbed the grubby looking package of the floor. Harriet was ,needless to say, disappointed. She had been expecting something spectacular not a paper package.  
Once they were outside Hagrid left for a pick-me-up at the leaky cauldron after sending Harriet to get her Robes at a shop called Madam Malkins. She entered the shop feeling very nervous.   
Madam Malkin was a squat witch who was dressed all in purple.  
"Hogwarts too dear? We have the lot here- a Young man being fitted just now, in fact."  
In the back of the shop a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool whilst another witch pinned up his Long black Robes.  
Madam Malkin stood Harriet on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over her head and began to pin it to the right length.  
“Hello, Hogwarts too?" He asked.  
" Yes." Harriet said.  
"My father is next door buying books and my mother's up the street looking at wands," Said the boy. He had a bored voice making Harriet think he'd been here a while. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll convince my dad to get me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow. "  
"Sounds like a plan." Harriet grinned. He seemed cool.  
" Have you got your own broom?”  
"No.”  
"Play Quidditch at all?”  
“No, Sorry.” Harriet said.  
"No matter. I do. Father says that it's a crime if I don't get picked for the team. Know what house you'll be in yet?”  
"No." Harriet answered feeling very embarrassed but hiding it behind a blank face making a mental note to research everything before she got to Hogwarts.  
"Well no one really knows until they get there do they. I know I'll be in slytherin. My whole family was. Imagine being in Hufflepuff. I think I'd leave, don't you?"  
Harriet simply nodded. What the hell was a Hufflepuff?   
"I say , look at that man!" Said the boy nodding toward the front window. There was Hagrid waving.  
"That's Hagrid, the games keeper at Hogwarts. He's helping me get my stuff. "  
"I heard he's sort of savage- lives in a hut in the school grounds. Gets drunk from time to time , tries to do magic and sets his bed on fire.”  
Harriet raised her eyebrows shocked.  
"That's sad."  
"Why is he with you? Where are your parents? "  
"They died when I was a baby. "  
"I'm sorry. " the boy said," They were our kind, weren't they?"  
"Yes."  
"Im not sure they should let the other sort in. They're not the same. They haven't been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter. Imagine that! "  
Harriet was about to answer when Madam Malkin told her she was done.  
"See you at Hogwarts then." The boy said.  
"Bye." Harriet said with a smile and walked out of the shop.  
After that she went to get her books. The ones on the list plus a few extra on wizarding culture, Hogwarts and Quidditch. She also bought one full of curses (just in case). Next on the list was the Apothecary, which was fascinating , to get potions ingredients. Outside the Apothecary she checked her list again. Only her wand left. She made her way to Ollivanders having heard from a witch it was the best. On the way she stopped at the owl emporium and bought a beautiful snowy owl named Hedwig. Finally she reached Ollivanders. She entered the shop feeling surprisingly calm. It looked empty. Hagrid squeezed through the door.  
Hagrid sat down on a chair to wait.   
"Good afternoon. " a soft voice said.  
Harriet spun around. So did Hagrid, almost breaking the chair. An old man with pale eyes stood before them. Harriet asumed this was Ollivander.   
" Hello. " she said awkwardly.   
" Ah yes. Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon, Harriet Potter. You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday that she was in here buying her own wand. Ten and a quarter inches, swishy , willow. Good for charms. Your father, however, favored a mahogany wand, eleven inches. Well I say your father favored it. It's really the wand that chooses the wizard. Now let's see. Which is your wand arm." Ollivander said.   
Harriet thought about it she could write with both hands but she had no clue how to define a wand arm.  
"Both I suppose. " she answered.  
"Hold out your arms-that's it. "  
A tape measure sprang to life and began measuring from shoulder to finger, from shoulder to floor and from knees to armpits.  
Ollivander then handed Harriet a wand and told her to try it. About 16 wands later he handed her a wand that felt warm in her hand. She raised it above her head and brought it down. A stream of silver and gold sparks shot out.  
"Curious. .. very curious. " Ollivander said, " I remember every wand I've ever sold. And as it happens the phoenix who gave the tail feather for your wand gave another. Just one other. It is curious how this wand chose you when It's brother - it's brother- gave you that scar... I think we may expect great things from you Ms. Potter. After all. .. You -know -who did great things. Terrible. But great."  
Harriet and Hagrid walked back to the train station. Hagrid helped her onto a train that would take her back to the Dursley's and gave her an envelope.  
"Your ticket for Hogwarts. First September. Kings cross. See Yeh soon. " He said.  
The train pulled out of the station. Harriet started reading one of the books she had bought on the way back to privet drive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I referred to mean girls for the title. Deal with it.  
> Also, comment and Kudo.  
> Thanx.  
> Friendly critisizem is appreciated. Haters will be properly ignored.


	5. Let's go to Hogwarts.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically, the way to school. The gang is introduced. This was written on my phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am half asleep so forgive me for any mistakes. Also I am sick. Fever and Sore throats don't mix well.

All things considering, Harriet's last month at the Dursley's was actually quite nice. Dudley was so scared of Harriet that he refused to be in the same room as her. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't force her to do anything. They simply acted as if she didn't exist giving her plenty of time to catch up on the facts and figures of the wizarding world. By the time summer ended she was more than well informed. Harriet kept to her room with her new owl Hedwig for company. Her school books were interesting and she memorized about 70% . It was lucky that aunt Petunia didn't come in to vacuum anymore because Hedwig kept bringing back dead mice.  
Every night before he went to sleep, Harriet ticked off another day on the piece of paper she had pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first.  
On the last day of August she thought she should ask her aunt and uncle about getting a lift to King's Cross station the next day, so she went down to the living room where they were watching a quiz show on television. When she got there Dudley screamed and ran from the room.  
"Er -- Uncle Vernon?"  
Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening.  
"Er -- I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to -- to go to Hogwarts."  
Uncle Vernon grunted again. Harriet was reminded of a pig.  
"Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?"  
Grunt. Harriet supposed that meant yes.  
"Thank you."  
She was about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon actually spoke.  
"Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"  
Harriet said nothing.  
"Where is this school, anyway?"  
"Scotland," said Harriet, remembering what she had read in Hogwarts; A History. She pulled the ticket Hagrid had given her out of her pocket.  
"I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock," she read.  
Her aunt and uncle stared.  
"Platform what?"  
"Nine and three-quarters."  
"Don't talk rubbish," said Uncle Vernon. "There is no platform nine and three-quarters."  
"It's on my ticket."  
"Barking," said Uncle Vernon, "howling mad, the lot of them. You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother."  
"Why are you going to London?" Harriet asked, trying to keep things friendly.  
"Taking Dudley to the hospital," growled Uncle Vernon. "Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings."  
Harriet woke at five o'clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. She got up and pulled on her robes, shoving her cloak into her bag. She checked her Hogwarts list yet again to make sure she had everything she needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage, and then paced the room, waiting for the Dursley’s to get up. Two hours later, Harriet's huge, heavy trunk had been loaded into the Dursleys' car, Aunt Petunia had talked Dudley into sitting next to Harriet, and they had set off.  
They reached King's Cross at half past ten. Uncle Vernon dumped Harriet’s trunk onto a cart and wheeled it into the station for her. Harriet thought this was strangely kind until Uncle Vernon stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face.  
"Well, there you are, girl. Platform nine -- platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?"  
He was quite right, of course. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing at all.  
"Have a good term," said Uncle Vernon with an even nastier smile. He left without another word.  
Harriet's mouth went rather dry. What on earth was she going to do? She decided to keep a look out for anything abnormal or other wizards and witches.  
According to the large clock over the arrivals board, she had ten minutes left to get on the train to Hogwarts and she had no idea how to do it; she was stranded in the middle of a station with a trunk she could hardly lift, a pocket full of wizard money, and a large owl.  
Hagrid must have forgotten to tell her something you had to do, like tapping the third brick on the left to get into Diagon Alley.  
At that moment a group of people passed just behind him and he caught a few words of what they were saying.  
"-- packed with Muggles, of course --"  
Harry swung round. The speaker was a tall blond woman who was talking to a man and a boy with silver-blond hair. She instantly recognized the boy from the robe shop.  
"Excuse me," Harriet said to the blonde woman, “Sorry to bother you, but I can't seem to find my way onto the platform."  
"Not to worry, it's Draco's first time at Hogwarts too, you can stick with us. My name is Narcissa Malfoy, Nice to meet you. This is my Husband Lucius and my son Draco."  
"Thank you Mrs. Malfoy. I really appreciate it. I'm Harriet Potter and it's lovely to meet you too." Harriet said shaking the hands that had been stuck out for her too shake and smiling.  
"Now," Mr. Malfoy continued," Here we are. All you have to do is run through the wall there. Wait for us on the other side, Draco, Why don't you go first?"  
"Yes father." Draco said sending her a smirk/smile and running through the wall. Harriet blinked.  
"Now you, go on." Mrs. Malfoy said sending Harriet an encouraging smile. Taking a deep breath she ran at the wall and went straight through it. A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven O'clock. Harriet looked behind her and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it. She went over to the boy- Draco, now, she supposed.  
"Hi," She said smiling.  
"Nice to see you again. The racing broom plan failed, sorry." He said . Harriet giggled. Draco smirked. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy came through the arch way and over to then.  
"Now, do you both have everything you need?" Mrs. Malfoy asked. The kids both nodded.   
"Good. Draco, remember we're counting on Slytherin. Have a good term both of you and make lots of friends. remember, your house comes first. Off you go.  
"Goodbye Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy. Thank you again for your help."  
"Goodbye father, mother."  
The Malfoys left.  
"Do you want to stick with me. I mean, there's all sorts of people around here and we need to find a compartment that's empty and it's always easier if there are two people on the lookout."  
"That sounds great, also we're less likely to get lost in the crowd that way."  
“Let's go."  
They made their way onto the train and found an empty compartment rather quickly. They shoved their luggage into the overhead lockers (the owl cages were set on the table by the window) and sat down on the seats.  
"So, do you know anyone else who is going to be in our year?" Harriet asked wondering if Draco had any wizarding friends.  
"I do. There's Pansy Parkinson who is a childhood friend of mine, Theodore Nott who I met last week when my parents threw a dinner party, Blaise Zabini, who I've known a while due to the fact that our parents were friends at school, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle who are also childhood friends. How about you?"  
"No-one really. I'm quite new to the wizarding world." Harriet said blushing slightly. It was rather embarrassing for her to admit that she didn't know anything from outside textbooks.  
"Don't worry, If you don't know something I'll get you up to speed." Draco said.  
"excuse me, can I sit here?" a girl with an upturned nose and brown hair asked.  
"Pansy, hi. Harriet this is Pansy Parkinson. Pansy, meet Harriet Potter."  
"Nice to meet you!" Pansy exclaimed holding out her hand.  
"Nice to meet you too." Harriet took it. They both smiled.  
They chatted about all sorts of things on the rest of the journey including family's, the school houses, magic, and Quidditch.  
The train slowed right down and finally stopped. Harriet grabbed he cloak and threw it on before the got of leaving her bags on the train like instructed by the voice that carried through the train. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harriet shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and she heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"  
Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.  
"C'mon, follow me -- any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"  
Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harriet thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much.  
"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."  
There was a loud "Oooooh!"  
The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black take. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.  
"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harriet and Draco were followed into their boat by Pansy and a boy who introduced himself as Blaizse Zabini. "Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then -- FORWARD!"  
And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.  
"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.  
Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.  
They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, Oak front door.  
Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment or Kudo.  
> Friendly critisizem is appreciated. Haters will be properly ignored.  
> Thanks.


	6. Slytherin, house of the snake.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sorting and the common room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. Chapter 6. Yay. Also the charachters may be a bit OOC just to warn you. Sorry!

The door swung open. A tall witch in emerald green robes and a matching hat stood there. She looked strict. Harriet made a mental note not to get onto her bad side no matter what she taught.  
"The Firs' Years Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.  
"Thank you Hagrid. I shall take it from here."  
She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was huge. Harriet guessed about 54m high. The stone walls were lit by torches and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. Harriet remembered reading something about trick stairs in Hogwarts; a History.  
They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. They could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right. The rest of the school must already be there.  
"Welcome to Hogwarts." said Professor McGonagall, “The start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats you will be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be your family. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in the house dormitory and spend free time in the house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has it's own noble history. I hope each one of you will be a credit to whichever house you're sorted into. While you are here your triumphs will bring you points, while any rule breaking will result in a loss of points. At the end of the year the house with the most points will be awarded the house cup. The ceremony will begin in a few moments. Please wait here." With that she swept back into the hall.

Harriet scanned all the books she had memorized during the summer in her mind hoping she could find out how they were going to sort them. She remembered something about a hat and the founders. She took a few deep calming breaths.  
A few minutes later Professor McGonagall returned and led them into the great hall. The great hall looked amazing. The ceiling looked like the night sky outside, candles floated above the tables and there were huge stained glass windows of which the glass they were made of shone and sparkled. At the end a four legged stool stood with a hat perched on top of it. A very old and shabby hat. The rip at the brim opened and the hat began to sing.  
After the hat had finished singing, Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.  
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." she said, "Abbot, Hannah."  
A girl with blonde pigtails stepped forward and was sorted into Hufflepuff. The others were sorted as follows.  
Bones,Susan: Hufflepuff  
Boot,Terry: Ravenclaw  
Brocklehurst,Mandy: Ravenclaw  
Brown,Lavender: Gryffindor  
Bulstrode,Millicent: Slytherin  
Flinch-Fletchley,Justin: Hufflepuff  
Granger,Hermione: Gryffindor  
Weasley,Ronald: Gryffindor  
Longbottom,Neville: Gryffindor  
Malfoy,Draco: Slytherin (Harriet sent him a thumbs up).  
Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy and Blaise became Slytherins. Theodore Nott became a Ravenclaw and finally it was Harriets turn. She walked up to the stool and sat down. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her head.  
"Mmmm," said the voice," Your smart for sure....Ambitious and loyal too.....brave as well.....where to put you..."  
"Put me in the house that will benefit me the most." Harriet thought. If she was going to learn magic she was damn well going to make sure she did it right.  
"Very ambitious....and smart....very well then....SLYTHERIN!"  
The last word was shouted by the hat. Harriet took of the hat to find that the hall had been shocked into scilence. Draco started clapping along with his friends. The Slytherin table exploded with cheering and clapping whilst still keeping it's Slytherin composure.  
The prefects got up to shake Hartiets hand as did a few of the other students. Once she sat down she glanced at the high table and realized that the headmaster (professor Dumbeldore if she remembered correctly) looked rather pissed off. Once the hall had settled down the sorting continued.  
Once it was over, Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement.  
"Welcome," He said," Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Before we begin our feast I would like to say a few words. Nitwit, Blubber, odment, tweak. Thank you."  
The whole hall clapped. Harriet turned to the prefect that was nearest to her.  
" Is he... a bit mad?" She asked.  
" Yes. You're the only one who has made the correct assumption on their first day. Most people assume the last four words are a secret message. Potatoes? "  
"Yes please. So who are all the teachers? "  
"From right to left, Hagrid : games keeper, savage. Flitwick : Charms, head of Ravenclaw. Sprout: herbology, head of Hufflepuff. Then a whole load of teachers that you won't need to know about until your third year excluding Dumbeldore. Then , McGonagall : Transfiguration, also head of the Gryffindor house. Quirrel : defence against the dark arts. Snape: potions, head of slytherin. Binns: History of Magic, a ghost. Hooch, flying lessons and Quidditch referee. There the one you'll need to know for your first year. Watch out for Trilewany though. She's the divination teacher and a complete fraud. Loves to predict students death. Don’t take anything she says seriously. "   
" OK. Thanks."  
"Anytime. Your house is your family. Family means helping each other."  
At the end of the feast Dumbledore stood up and said," Now before we go to bed let us sing our school song. Everyone pick their favorite tune and here we go. "  
The school bellowed:  
' Hogwarts, Hogwarts hoggy warty hogwarts,   
Teach us something please,  
Wether we are old and bald or young with scabby knees,  
Our heads could do with filling of some interesting stuff,   
For now they're bare and full of air,  
Dead flies and bits of fluff,  
So teach us things worth knowing   
bring back what we forgot   
just do your best we'll do the rest  
and learn until our brains all rot.'  
The last ones singing ere the red headed Gryffindor twins who had chosen a long funeral March as their tune. Dumbledore conducted the last few lines.  
When the finished he sent them off to bed. The Slytherin first years following their prefects.   
The Slytherin common room's entrance was hidden by a wall in the dungeons. The password was 'Dragonsbane'.  
The common room itself was painted a pale green colour with black pillars that had snakes crawling up them. Stone snakes of course. There was posh black furniture all around the room and 2 fireplaces at either end. There were signs showing the location of the girls bathroom and dormitory and the location of the boys bathroom and dormitory. The common room had a glass ceiling that showed that they were under the lake.  
The prefect (Higgs as he introduced himself) told them where they needed to go and we're the could find him during the day should they ever have questions. Then he bade them a good night and left. Pansy immediately hooked her arm through Harriet’s.  
"Come on Harriet, I want to see our dormitory. Night Draco."  
"Goodnight guys," Harriet called to Draco, Blaise , Crabbe, Goyle.  
"Goodnight, " was the last thing she heard before Pansy had dragged her into the girls dormitory and was introducing her to the other Slytherin girls: Millicent Bulstrode, Amina Cheng and Elizabeth Whitemore.   
After that, they all got ready for bed and went to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment and Kudo. Friendly critisizem is appreciated. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.


	7. The first week always sucks.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically the first week of School. Snape is less of an asshole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slight delay. I was really busy with School.

Whispers followed Harriet from the moment she left her dormitory the next day. People lining up outside classrooms stood on tiptoe to get a look at her, or doubled back to pass her in the corridors again, staring. Harriet wished they wouldn't, because she was trying to concentrate on finding her way to classes.

　　There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, and Harriet was sure the coats of armor could walk.

The bloody Baron was always happy to point new Slytherins in the right direction, but Peeves the Poltergeist was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him when you were late for class. He would drop wastepaper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!"

　　Even worse than Peeves, if that was possible, was the caretaker, Argus Filch.The slytherin first years managed to get on the wrong side of him on their very first morning. Filch found them trying to force their way through a door that unluckily turned out to be the entrance to the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor. He wouldn't believe they were lost, was sure they were trying to break into it on purpose, and was threatening to lock them in the dungeons when they were rescued by Professor Quirrell, who was passing.

　　Filch owned a cat called Mrs. Norris, a scrawny, dust-colored creature with bulging, lamp like eyes just like Filch's. She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later. Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone (except perhaps the Weasley twins) and could pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts. The students all hated him, and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs. Norris a good kick.

　　And then, once you had managed to find them, there were the classes themselves. There was a lot more to magic than waving your wand and saying a few funny words.

　　They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for.

　　Easily the most boring class was History of Magic, which was the only one taught by a ghost. Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates, and got Emetic the Evil and Uric the Oddball mixed up.

　　Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Harriet's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight. Harriet facepalmed.

Professor McGonagall was again different. Harriet had been quite right to think she wasn't a teacher to cross. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking-to the moment they sat down in her first class.

　　"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

　　Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time. After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. By the end of the lesson, only Hermione Granger had made any difference to her match; Professor McGonagall showed the class how it had gone all silver and pointy and gave Hermione a rare smile.

　　The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather; for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went.

　　Harry was very relieved to find out that she wasn't miles behind everyone else. Lots of people had come from Muggle families and, like her, hadn't had any idea that they were witches and wizards. She was also relieved to find out that all the studying she had done over the summer had really paid off.

Friday was ok. If you didn't consider the fact that somehow most of the Gryffindors,Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs thought she was a traitor of some Kind.

　　"What have we got today?" Harriet asked Blaise as she poured sugar on her porridge.

　　"Double Potions with the Gryffindors," said Blaise. " They say gryffindors are dunderheads -- we'll be able to see if it's true."

　　Harriet nodded in Agreement and began to eat her breakfast.

　　Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.

　　Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harriet's Name. He gave her a glance. She shrunk back into her seat feeling nervous. He scanned her and then turned back to the Register. Then he began teaching.

　　"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word, like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses.... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death -- if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

More silence followed this little speech. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Draco, whom he seemed to like. He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.

　　"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

　　Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.

　　"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus.

After all the lessons were over, the Slytherins made their way to the common room. Harriet picked up a newspaper that was lying on a table under the tea cozy. It read:

　　"GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST

　　Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown.

　　Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.

　　"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon."

Harriet turned to Draco and Pansy who were looking over her shoulders.

"That Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while I was there!"

"Which Vault was broken into?"Pansy asked

"It doesn't say. But I bet what they were searching for must have been really valuable because only someone really desperate or stupid would break into Gringotts!" Draco said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment or Kudo.  
> Thanx.


	8. Neville almost dies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neville almost dies. Harriet goes on a nighttime walk with Pansy and almost dies too.

If someone had told Harriet that there was someone she would hate more than Dudley at Hogwarts, she would have laughed in their faces. This was before she met Ronald Weasley. He was awful to her and all the Slytherins in General. He hated her and had obviously made it his life’s Mission to convince everyone she was a traitor. The Thing was she had no idea who she had betrayed, if anyone.  
First-year Slytherins only had Potions with the Gryffindors, so they didn't have to put up with Weasley much. Or at least, they didn't until they spotted a notice pinned up in the common room that made them all groan. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together. Harriet hoped that Weasley would somehow die before then. He was horrible. Constantly making Jabs and calling her a traitor every chance he got. She didn't even know who she had betrayed!  
"Typical," said Harriet, glowering darkly. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Weasley."  
She had been looking forward to learning to fly more than anything else.  
"You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself," said Pansy reasonably. "Anyway, I know he's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk. I bet he falls off."  
Everyone from a wizarding Family was talking about Quidditch and flying. Admittedly, Harriet had probably memorized all the flying tips the library had to offer and found a friend in Theodore Nott who seemed to hate flying and tried to stay away from Quidditch. That didn't mean he wanted to make a fool out of himself though.  
Neville, a Gryffindor that was surprisingly nice to her, had never been on a broomstick in his life, because his grandmother had never let him near one. Privately, Harriet felt she'd had good reason, because Neville managed to have an extraordinary number of accidents even with both feet on the ground.  
Malfoy's eagle owl was always bringing him packages of sweets from home, which he opened at the Slytherin table. He always shared with Harriet seeing as they didn't get any post at all and he thought she could do with some cheering up.  
At three-thirty that afternoon, the Slytherins hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance. A while later the Gryffindors arrived.  
Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk.  
"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."  
Harriet glanced down at the broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles.  
"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!"'  
"UP," everyone shouted.  
Harriets broom jumped into her hand at once, but it was one of the few (along with Draco's) that did. Blaise Zabini's had simply rolled over on the ground, and Pansy's hadn't moved at all. Weasley’s had whacked him in the face. Harriet had noticed this with glee.  
Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips.  
"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle – three – two-“  
But Neville, who was shaking from head to foot, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.  
"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle - twelve feet - twenty feet. Harriet saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and - WHAM -- a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay facedown on the grass in a heap. Harriet winced.  
The broomstick was still rising higher and higher, and started to drift lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight.   
Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as white as his.  
"Broken wrist," The class heard her mutter. "Come on, boy - it's all right, up you get."  
She turned to the rest of the class.  
"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."  
Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him.  
"Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."  
He went over to the other slytherins.  
"We should give that back to him," said Harry quietly.  
"Yes. Let's give it to one of the Gryffindors. They'll see it safely returned." Pansy agreed.  
"How about Granger?" Blaise suggested.  
"Okay. " Pansy said.  
“Hey Granger, " Draco called," Give this back to Mr. Almost-Swan-Dive."  
He threw her the rememberall. Hermione looked surprised but nodded slipping the thing into her pocket.  
At the end of the day everyone fell asleep almost instantly. They had sat through 4 hours of homework and were very tired.  
A Long time later, Harriet woke up from her sleep and looked around. How did she end up in the trophy room. A thought struck her. Was she sleep walking. Someone grabbed her and pulled her behind a statue.

"What in the Name of Merlin are you doing?"  
It was Pansy.  
"Sleepwalking. I think. I don't know! I was in the dormitory and then I woke up here!" she answered the question.   
Pansy looked worried.  
"Ok, Let's get back to the dormitory and talk about this there."  
They heard the door creek and hid behind the door. It was Filch.  
"They're in here somewhere," they heard him mutter, "probably hiding."  
"This way!" Harriet mouthed to Pansy and, petrified, they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armor. They could hear Filch getting nearer. Pansy suddenly let out a frightened squeak and broke into a run -she tripped, grabbed Harriet around the waist, and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armor.  
The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle.  
"RUN!" Harriet yelled, and they sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following -- they swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, Harriet in the lead, without any idea where they were or where they were going -- they ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room.  
"I think we've lost him," Harriet panted, leaning against the cold wall and wiping her forehead. Pansy was bent double, wheezing and spluttering.  
"Let's go." Pansy said.  
It wasn't going to be that simple. They hadn't gone more than a dozen paces when a doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them.  
It was Peeves. He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight.  
"Shut up, Peeves - please - you'll get us thrown out." Pansy begged.  
Peeves cackled.  
"Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."  
"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please."  
Pansy seemed desperate.  
"Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves in a saintly voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. "It's for your own good, you know."  
"Get out of the way or we'll call the bloody Baron!" snapped Harriet. She’d had just about enough of the Poltergeist.   
Peeves went a lighter shade than usual and zoomed off.  
They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could toward the direction from where Peeves had zoomed out of screaming 'students out of bed'.  
"This is it!" Pansy moaned, as she pushed helplessly at a door they had run into, "We're done for! This is the end!"   
"Oh, move over," Harriet snarled. She grabbed her wand, tapped the lock, and whispered, 'Alohomora!"  
The lock clicked and the door swung open - they slipped through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their ears against it, listening.  
"Which way did they go, Peeves?" Filch was saying. "Quick, tell me."  
"Say 'please."  
"Don't mess with me, Peeves, now where did they go?"  
"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in his annoying singsong voice.  
"All right -please."  
"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!" And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage.  
"He thinks this door is locked," Harriet whispered. "I think we'll be okay ."  
"I'm not too sure about that." Pansy said staring at something.  
Harriet turned around and saw, quite clearly, what. For a moment, she was sure she'd walked into a nightmare- this was too much, on top of everything that had happened so far.  
They weren't in a room, as she had supposed. They were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden.  
They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.  
It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Harriet knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise, but it was quickly getting over that, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant.  
Harriet groped for the doorknob - between Filch and death, she'd take Filch.  
They fell backward. Harriet slammed the door shut, and they ran, they almost flew, back down the corridor. Filch must have hurried off to look for them somewhere else, because they didn't see him anywhere, but they hardly cared. All they wanted to do was put as much space as possible between them and that monster. They didn't stop running until they reached the entrance to the common room.  
"Silver snake," panted Harriet, and the wall opened. They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling, into armchairs.  
It was a while before either of them said anything. Pansy looked as if she'd never speak again.  
"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" said Pansy finally. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."  
"It was standing on a trapdoor, guarding something." Harriet said breathlessly, "It looks as though we have found out where the thing the burglar at Gringotts wanted is. Vault 713 was emptied by Hagrid when he took me to buy my stuff and in the newspaper it said that the vault had been emptied the very same day it was broken into."  
"Let's tell the others."  
"yeah we'll tell them. We'll tell them tomorrow." Harriet said suppressing a yawn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment or Kudo. Thanx.


	9. Pansy makes an unfriendly aquaintance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pansy almost gets eaten by a troll.

　　Malfoy couldn't believe his ears when Pansy and Harriet told him and Blaise about their furry, three headed discovery. Blaise looked terrified and looked around as if he expected to see a huge dog racing towards them and then becoming a Dogs breakfast. Quite literally.

　　But as all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it was about two inches long, they didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues.

 

What really seemed to worry everyone was the fact that Harriet had been sleepwalking. There was nothing they could do about it though not without getting Pansy into Trouble.

Everything went as usual for the following days.

　　On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom. Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Harriet's partner was Theo (which was a relief, because she barely knew any Ravenclaws). 

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too -- never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

　　It was very difficult. Harriet and Theo swished and flicked, but the feather they were supposed to be sending skyward just lay on the desktop. Theo tried one last time before they gave up. Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.

　　"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Mr. Nott has done it!"

On the way back to the common room, Harriet walked past Ron and his friends.

"Parkinson's a nightmare, honestly. I don't see how anyone can stand her.I feel sorry for her house!" was what she heard. Her blood boiled. She made a mental note to get him back someday. It was only lucky Pansy wasn't here.

　　Someone knocked into Harriet as they hurried past her. It was Pansy. Harriet caught a glimpse of her face -- and saw that she was in tears. She walked past weasly knocking him to the ground . She hoped he got at least a big bruise.

 

Pansy didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Harriet overheard Millicent telling her friend Amina that Pansy was crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone. Harriet looked for Draco, Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle. She sat down next to them as soon as they were in the great hall.

　　A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.

　　Harriet was just helping herself to a baked potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll -- in the dungeons -- thought you ought to know."

　　He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.

　　There was an uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.

　　"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

The prefects sprang into Action.

　　"Follow us! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow our orders! Stay close behind us, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"

　　"How could a troll get in?" Harriet asked as they walked the.

　　"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Blaise. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."

　　They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Harriet suddenly grabbed Draco's arm.

　　"I've just thought -- Pansy."

　　"What about her?"

　　"She doesn't know about the troll."

Draco paled. It took two seconds to make their decsision. Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor, and hurried off toward the girls' bathroom. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them. They ducked behind a statue. It was Snape.

" What's Snape doing up here?" asked Harriet.

　　"Search me."

　　Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps.

　　"He's heading for the third floor," Harriet said, but Draco held up his hand.

　　"Can you smell something?"

　　Harriet sniffed and a foul stench reached her nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean.

　　And then they heard it -- a low grunting, and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Draco pointed -- at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving toward them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.

　　It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite gray, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible, in the worst way. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.

　　The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.

　　They edged toward the open door, mouths dry, praying the troll wasn't about to come out of it. With one great leap, Draco managed to grab the key, slam the door, and lock it.

　　'Yes!"

　　Flushed with their victory, they started to run back up the passage, but as they reached the corner they heard something that made their hearts stop -- a high, petrified scream -- and it was coming from the chamber they'd just chained up.

　　"Oh, no," said Draco, pale as the Bloody Baron.

　　"It's the girls' bathroom!" Harriet gasped.

　　"Pansy!" they said together.

　　It was the last thing they wanted to do, but what choice did they have? Wheeling around, they sprinted back to the door and turned the key, fumbling in their panic. Harriet pulled the door open and they ran inside.

　　Pansy Parkinson was shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she was about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.

　　"Confuse it!" Harriet said desperately to Draco, and, seizing a tap, she threw it as hard as she could against the wall.

　　The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Harriet. It hesitated, then made for her instead, lifting its club as it went.

　　"Oy, Half-Wit!" yelled Draco from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout toward Draco instead, giving Harriet time to run around it.

　　"Come on, run, run!" Harriet yelled at Pansy, trying to pull her toward the door, but she couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror.

　　The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Pansy, and now Harriet aswell, who were nearest and had no way to escape.

　　Draco then did something that was possibly the most stupid Thing he had ever done and would surely give his mother a heart attack: He took a great running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind. The troll couldn't feel him hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its nose, and Draco's wand had still been in his hand when he'd jumped -- it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils.

　　Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Draco clinging on for dear life; any second, the troll was going to rip him off or catch him a terrible blow with the club.

　　Pansy had sunk to the floor in fright; Harriet pulled out her own wand -- not knowing what she was going to do she heard herself cry the first spell that came into her head: "Wingardium Leviosa!"

　　The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over -- and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.

　Draco got to his feet. He was shaking and out of breath. Harriet was standing there with her wand still raised, staring at what she had done.

　　It was Pansy who spoke first.

　　"Is it -- dead?"

　　I don't think so," said Harriet, I think it's just been knocked out."

　Draco bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy gray glue.

　　"Urgh -- troll boogers."

　　He wiped it on the troll's trousers.

　　A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the three of them look up. They hadn't realized what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.

　　Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Draco and Harriet. Harriet had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. Hopes of getting away with it dissapeared.

　　"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Harriet looked at Draco who looked just as desperate for a way out as she was. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

　　Snape gave Harriet a swift, piercing look. Harriet looked at the floor. She shoved her wand back into her pocket.

　　Then a small voice came out of the shadows.

　　"Please, Professor McGonagall -- they were looking for me."

　　"Miss Parkinson!"

　　Pansy had managed to get to her feet at last.

　　I went looking for the troll because I -- I thought I could deal with it on my own -- you know, because I've read all about them. If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Draco stuck his wand up its nose and Harriet knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."

　Harriet and Draco tried to look as though this story wasn't new to them.

　　"Well -- in that case..." said Professor McGonagall, staring at the three of them, "Miss Parkinson, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"

　　Pansy hung her head. Harriet was speechless. Pansy usually blamed everything on others and yet, here she was getting her and Draco out of Trouble.

　　"Miss Parkinson, five points will be taken from Slytherin for this," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to your common room. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."

　Pansy left left.

　　Professor McGonagall turned to Draco and Harriet.

　　"Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Slytherin five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

　　They hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they were back in the common room. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.

　　"We should have gotten more than ten points," Draco grumbled.

　　"Five, you mean, once she's taken off Pansy's."

　　"Good of her to get us out of trouble like that," Draco admitted. "Mind you, we did save her."

　　"She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her," Harriet reminded him.

　　The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Pansy, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for them. There was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none of them looking at each other, they all said "Thanks," and hurried off to get plates.

It was the talk of the school by the next morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment or Kudo.  
> Thanx.


	10. Funny how you overhear everything of importance.

As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became icy gray and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost. Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch field, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves, and enormous beaverskin boots.

　　The Quidditch season had begun. On Saturday, the first match was due : Gryffindor versus Slytherin. If Slytherin won, they would move up into second place in the house Championship.

　　Harriet learned that there were seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul and that all of them had happened during a World Cup match in 1473. Courtesy of Blaise who wouldn't stop talking about quidditch and had Harriet looking Forward to the day she learnt silencing charms.

 The day before the first Quidditch match the three of them were out in the freezing courtyard during break, and Harriet and Theo had conjured up a bright blue fire that could be carried around in a jam jar. They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard. Harriet noticed at once that Snape was limping. She filed away the information and turned back to her conversation with Theodore.

　　The Slytherin  common room was very noisy that evening. Pansy,Blaise,Draco  and Harriet sat together next to a window. Crabbe and Goyle soon joined them. Harriet was checking everyone's Charms homework for them. She would never let them copy ("How will you learn?"), but they were asking her to read it through, anyway.

Pansy and Draco were playing chess whlist Blaise was Helping Crabbe and Goyle with their homework.

　　The next morning dawned very bright and cold. The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried sausages and the cheer ful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match.

　　By eleven o'clock the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Many students had binoculars. The seats might be raised high in the air, but it was still difficult to see what was going on sometimes.

　　Draco  and Harriet sat down in the top row. Harriet handed him a jam jar with blue flames in it. Them they waited for the match to begin.

　　Madam Hooch was refereeing. She stood in the middle of the field waiting for the two teams, her broom in her hand.

　　"Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you," she said, once they were all gathered around her. Harriet noticed that she seemed to be speaking only to the Slytherins which she thought was unfair. 

　　Fifteen brooms rose up, high, high into the air. They were off. "And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor -- what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too --"

　　"JORDAN!"

　　"Sorry, Professor."

　　The Weasley twins' friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall.

　　"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve -- back to Johnson and -- no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes -- Flint flying like an eagle up there -- he's going to sc- no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle -- that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and -- OUCH -- that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger -- Quaffle taken by the Slytherins -- that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger -- sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which -- nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes -- she's really flying -- dodges a speeding Bludger -- the goal posts are ahead -- come on, now, Angelina -- Keeper Bletchley dives -- misses -- GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"

　　Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, with howls and moans from the Slytherins.

　　"Slytherin in possession," Lee Jordan was saying, "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and Chaser Bell, and speeds toward the -- wait a moment -- was that the Snitch?"

　　A murmur ran through the crowd as Adrian Pucey dropped the Quaffle, too busy looking over his shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his left ear.

　Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs had seen it. All the Chasers stopped in mid air to watch. Higgs and the other seeker hurtled downwards neck to neck. Higgs pulled out of the dive just in time whilst the other seeker crashed into the ground. The Gryffindors groaned. Flint scored a few times. Higgs grabbed the Snitch and the game ended. The Gryffindors howled in displeasure.  The Slytherins were cheering as loudly as possible. 

"Bloody brilliant.  I'm telling you  Harriet.  Brilliant. " Draco practically yelled in her ear. Harriet just kept grinning. 

A few hours later, Draco was walking down the corridor past the staff room. 

" That blasted dog. I don't understand why Dumbledore insists on keeping that mutt in the school. There are much more intelligent ways of protecting you-know -what. " 

Draco's interest spiked. He snook towards the staffroom door, made sure no one was looking and pressed his ear to it. He could make out his uncle's voice and that of filch.

"I highly doubt that Nicholas Flamel even knows what he cooked up. Dumbledore though.  That's a different matter."

"I am aware. I have a job for you filch..."

Draco had stopped listening and had run off to find Harriet, Pansy and Blaise.

A few minutes later they were all hiding in a broom closet.

"You eves dropped on a teacher!?" Pansy squeaked. 

"Yes, anyway, the dog you two told me about is guarding something made by Nicholas Flamel. If we find out who he is we can narrow down the list of possible objects,artifacts, potions, etc."Draco said.

" Oh, he's a friend of Dumbledore's.  It's on the chocolate frog card." Said Blaise. Then,"what? " when he realized everybody was looking at him.

"Anything else? " Harriet asked. 

" No, that's pretty much it."

There was a collective groan.

Harriet spent the rest of the day in the library trying to find out who Nicholas Flamel was. She even asked The  
Unfriendly portrait of Sir Kent Hatreader.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment or Kudo.   
> Friendly critisizem is appreciated. Haters will be properly ignored.   
> Thanks


	11. A very high class Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harriet spends christmas at the Malfoy's house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not including the mirror of erised in this chapter just so you know.

Christmas was coming to quickly for Harriet's liking. Everyone seemed to be going home to their families. All except her. Due to this she spent even more time in the library than usual. Mainly to hide from Weasley so she wouldn't have to deal with his face and words. 

It was one glorious morning in potions that that all changed. Malfoy siezed the seat next to hers.

" My mother would like you to come over for the holidays. She doesn't want you to be the only person that gets left behind at Hogwarts for christmas. Please say you can come."

"I'd love to. I would go insane if I only had books to keep me company. Tell your mother thank you for the invitation. "

"Will do. Now let's brew this potion. "

" OK. I'll weigh the powdered dragon bone , You get started on the porcupine quills. " 

The finished the potion with no mistakes with smiles on their faces that would last the entire day. They also decided that they would ask Draco's parents about Nicholas Flamel because,let's face it, they probably knew.

Pansy was going to France during the holidays and wouldn't shut up about it so Harriet and Draco tried to stay clear of her. They were unsuccessful. Somehow she always found them.

The last week before the holidays flew by and before Harriet knew it, she was on the express again on the way to King's Cross where Lucius and Narcissa were going to pick her and Draco up. She really hoped she made a good first impression at the start of the year.

On the train, Draco and Blaise tried to teach her wizard chess. She slaughtered them during the first round and ended up teaching them. Pansy started putting her hair in a braid at one point but gave up pretty quickly claiming it was too messy to do anything with and ended up brushing it instead. Harriet started sketching. It ended up as a wolf. She got a lot of praise for it.

A few hours later, they pulled into Kings Cross Station. Harriet saw the Malfoys waiting on the platform. Mrs. Malfoy pulled Harriet and Draco into a hug as soon as the got of the train. Mr. Malfoy smiled at them both and led them out of the station sending their luggage to the Malfoy's house via magic.  
When they arrived,  the house elves served them tea. The conversation turned to school almost immediately.   
"So , Draco, how are your grades?" Mr. Malfoy asked.  
"They are fine father. I do well in most subjects. "  
" What are your favourite subjects? "  Narcissa asked Harriet.  
" Charms and Herbology. "  
"I heard you both took down a mountain troll. Severus informed me."  
Harriet and Draco looked down uncomfortably.   
Finally, after a long health and safety lecture,  It was time to eat.  
Dinner was served on a silver platter,  literally. Harriet did her best to remember all the table manners she had memorized a while back. The conversation turned to politics.  Draco seemed to zone out and nod along to whatever his father was saying whereas Harriet listened intent on getting information. Harriet commented occasionally whenever a recognised subject came up. She scored an approving look from Narcissa which she counted as a huge win.  
After dinner Narcissa showed Harriet the guest room. Then they headed back down to the ground floor and into another room which was obviously the games room.  Draco and Harriet played chess until supper after which everyone brushed their teeth and headed to bed.  
The following two evenings were much the same.  
On the day before Christmas eve, Lady Malfoy announced that they would be hosting a Christmas party. She told them the plan which was all very formal and dragged Harriet into Diagon Ally to buy two dresses. It took them ages to find dresses they (namely Narcissa ) deemed acceptable.   
Narcissa, Harriet found, had an arrogant personality but was still a very kind woman. Lucius on the other hand had a rather calm personality but could go from Draco's father to an ice block in seconds.   
Then it was time for the christmas party. Narcissa introduced Harriet to literally everyone there. Her arm felt sore from shaking hands all the time. After she had managed to get away from the meet and greet area she was joined by Draco and the friends he had managed to find.  
" Pansy! " She exclaimed happily,"Theo! Blaise! I'm so happy to see you! "  
They spent the rest of the time until the buffet was opened talking about the atrocious fashion choices that had been made and the poor manners some of the guests had.  
Finally the buffet was opened. Harriet grabbed a tiny bit of everything. There were too many choices.  
She was somewhat glad her dress was green. It acted like camouflage against the wallpaper. Some of the guests were terrible dancers and she didn't feel like getting her foot stepped on. Also she had only just learned to dance the day before and she didn't want to step on anyone's foot either. The talk of the party was about plans for the next year.  
When the last guest had left it was 2 in the morning.  Harriet and Draco trudged to there separate rooms and fell asleep almost instantly.   
The new years party went much the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment or Kudo. Friendly critisizem is appreciated. Haters will be properly ignored. Thanks.


	12. Harriet does some spy work.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eavesdropping pays off in this story.

Harriet sat on the train back to hogwarts deep in thought. Her presents for christmas had been of a large variety. However someone had sent her an invisibility cloak. Why? And above all, who?  
The invisibility cloak stayed folded at the bottom of her trunk. She had yet to put it to use.

She also had a lot of nightmares. Flashes of green light, begging, screaming, shouting and cold cruel laughter filled them. She kept this to herself though.

The group had almost given up hope of ever finding Flamel in a library book. They had clued Theo in on the secret so now he was helping them. He was skimming through book after book with Harriet.  Pansy sighed and slowly turned a page. Blaise had his face in a book. They could hear quiet snoring. Draco was flipping through great chunks of the books. There was a high possibility that he had missed a lot of information.  Possibly Flamel aswell.  
"Found him!" Theo called.  
Blaise woke with a start and rushed over a page stuck to his face. Harriet leaned over. Pansy ordered him to read it aloud. Draco peered over Harriet's shoulder.  
"Nicolas Flamel," Thoe said dramatically, "is the only known maker of the philosopher's Stone!"

"The what?" said Blaise and Pansy.

Theo continued:"The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.There have been many reports of the Sorcerer's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover. Mr. Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight)."

"The dog must be guarding Flamel's Philosophers Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it, that's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"

"A stone that makes gold and stops you from ever dying!" said Harriet. "No wonder they're guarding it. Anyone would want it."

　　"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry," said Blaise . "He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"

The upcoming quidditch match ended rather quickly. Slytherin slaughtered the Hufflepuffs even though the 3rd year seeker caught the Snitch. She and the other Hufflepuffs congratulated Slytherin on their win in true Hufflepuff fashion and walked off.  
　  
When Harriet left the stands some time later she noticed a hooded figure coming swiftly down the front steps of the castle. Clearly not wanting to be seen, it walked as fast as possible toward the forbidden forest. Harriet quickly snook after it. She really wished she had the invisibility cloak with her to make her job easier.  
Instead she climbed up a tree and along the branches like she had to when Dudley was playing Harry Hunting.  
Below, in a shadowy clearing, stood Snape, but he wasn't alone. Quirrell was there, too. Harriet couldn't make out the look on his face, but he was stuttering worse than ever. Harriet  strained to catch what they were saying.

　　"... d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus..."

　　"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private," said Snape, his voice icy. "Students aren't supposed to know about the Philosophers Stone, after all."

　　Harry leaned forward. Quirrell was mumbling something. Snape interrupted him.

　　"Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"

　　"B-b-but Severus, I --"

　　"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell," said Snape, taking a step toward him.

　　"I-I don't know what you

　　"You know perfectly well what I mean."

　　An owl hooted loudly, and Harry nearly fell out of the tree. She steadied herself in time to hear Snape say, "-- your little bit of hocus-pocus. I'm waiting."

　　"B-but I d-d-don't --"

　　"Very well," Snape cut in. "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie."

　　He threw his cloak over his head and strode out of the clearing. It was almost dark now, but Harriet could see Quirrell, standing quite still as though he was petrified.

　　"Harry, where have you been?" Pansy squeaked.

"We won! We won!" shouted Blaise coming towards them.

　　"Never mind that now," said Harriet breathlessly. "Let's find an empty room, you wait 'til you hear this...."

　　She made sure Peeves wasn't inside before shutting the door behind them, then she told them what she'd seen and heard.

　"So we were right, it is the Philosophers Stone, and either snape or Quirrell is trying to get it. Snape asked if Quirrell knew how to get past Fluffy, yes that's what I am calling the dog,- and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocus pocuss-- I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that they need to break through --"

　　"Why do you think they want it?" Asked Pany.

　　"I don't know, but they probably have an interesting motive ," said Draco.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment or Kudo. Thanx.


	13. Rumors that are Acctually true and a whole load of homework.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's almost exam time and Harriet and the gang keep figuring stuff out.

Every time they passed the third-floor corridor, the gang would press their ears to the door to check that Fluffy was still growling inside. Snape was sweeping about in his usual bad temper, which surely meant that the Stone was still there. Whenever Pansy  passed Quirrell these days she eyed him up and down suspiciously , and Draco had started following him around (unnoticed of course).

　　Harriet , however, had more on her mind than the Philosophers Stone. She had started drawing up study schedules and colorcoding all her notes.  Pansy and Draco wouldn't have minded, but she seemed to have completely forgotten about her health. Pansy had to drag her to bed more than once and Draco had to make sure she didn't fall asleep during class.

　　"Harriet, the exams are ages away."

　　"Ten weeks," Harriet snapped. "That's not ages, that's not even 3 months."

"Well these aren't the exams that dictate our future," Draco reminded her. "Anyway, what are you studying for, you already know it All."

　　"What am I studying for? Are you crazy? You realize we need to pass these exams to get into the second year? They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's gotten into me...."

　　Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Harriet. They piled so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones. Harriet somehow managed to finish all of it in one hour and memorize all the books.  
Blaise regularly forgot his homework and Theo was on the same level as Harriet.  Draco was eavesdropping on any conversations that Quirrell and Snape were having whilst trying to finish his homework on time. He just about managed it and dragging Harriet and Theo away from the books so they ate. Theo ate at the Slytherin table now.

A few days later, they heard that a dragon had been found in Hagrid's cabin (he had been keeping it as a pet) and the ministry was pressing charges. Harriet thought he aught to be arrested for doing something like that. It was highly illegal after all.  
She could only think about what could have happened if the dragon had grown up. She couldn't believe her ears when she heard that Dumbledore had gotten him out of trouble with the ministry.  She also realised that the teachers looked more and more tense around him as the days went by. When she said as much to Draco he told her she wasn't the only one to notice and gestured to a few different students across the hall.   
Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger, The Hufflepuff seeker and the Weasley twins, and a few others. They also looked slightly scared of Dumbledore. Come to think of it Harriet was getting slightly scared too.

It was a cloudy afternoon and they were sitting in the library, when the gang heard from Crabbe and Goyle that Ron Weasley had been taken to the headmaster for continued sneaking around at night because he had found a magic mirror or something. Harriet and Draco rolled their eyes.  The also found out that he had been given detention for the rest of the month. Detention with Snape. 

Harriet was almost glad that the exams weren't far away. All the studying he had to do kept his mind off his misery. She, Pansy, Blaise, Crabbe, Goyle, Theo and Draco kept to themselves, working late into the night, trying to remember the ingredients in complicated potions, learn charms and spells by heart, memorize the dates of magical discoveries and goblinrebellions....

　　Then, about a week before the exams were due to start, Harriet was walking back from the library on hee own one afternoon, she heard somebody whimpering from a classroom up ahead. As he drew closer, he heard Quirrell's voice.

　　"No -- no -- not again, please --"

　　It sounded as though someone was threatening him. Harry moved closer.

　　"All right -- all right --" he heard Quirrell sob.

　　Next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the classroom straightening his turban. He was pale and looked as though he was about to cry. He strode out of sight; Harriet didn't think Quirrell had even noticed her. She waited until Quirrell's footsteps had disappeared, then peered into the classroom. She saw Dumbledore leave through the other door.Was Dumbledore threatening the teachers?  
Harriet went back to the library, where Pansy was testing Draco on Astronomy. Harriet told them what she'd heard.  
"Poor Quirrell! " exclaimed Pansy,"No wonder he's scared of almost everything. " 

"We could tell the ministry, my father has excellent connections.  We can get him arrested  if we do a bit of poking around. After that thing with the dragon they're sure to at least remove him from his teaching post." Draco said. 

　　"No," said Harry flatly, "They won't. They were going to arrest Hagrid but Dumbledore stopped them. I'd wager that he has a bigger influence than your father. Also Quirrell is too scared to back us up so there's  no point. I think all this has to do with the Stone. If that stone was gone all of us would have an easier life. I'm sure of it."  
With that, she pulled a map of Jupiter toward him and started to learn the names of its moons.  
　　

　

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment or Kudo. Friendly critisizem is appreciated. Haters will be properly ignored. Thanks.


	14. Go hard or go home.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They go after the stone.

　In years to come, Draco would never quite remember how he had managed to get through his exams when he half expected Harriet to faint at every moment and Dumbledore  to come bursting through the door at any moment and kill someone. He had grown wary of the old wizard. At first he had thought the old man was just insane. Now , after a year of observations and threats against the teachers, he was terrified of him.

　　It was sweltering hot, especially in the large classroom where they did their written papers. They had been given special, new quills for the exams, which had been bewitched with an AntiCheating spell.

　　They had practical exams as well. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tapdance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox -- points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was, but taken away if it had whiskers. Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion.

The gang did the bestt hey could. Harriet trying to ignore the stabbing pains in her forehead, which had been bothering her ever since she had seen Dumbledore threatening Quirrell.  Pansy thought Harriet had a bad case of exam nerves because Harriet couldn't sleep, but the truth was that Harriet kept being woken by nightmares.  
　　Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented selfstirring cauldrons and they'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until their exam results came out. When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, Harriet couldn't help cheering with the rest.

　　"That was far easier than I thought it would be," said Harriet as they joined the crowds flocking out onto the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."

Harriet always liked to go through their exam papers afterward, but Blaise said this made him feel ill, so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows. "No more studying," Blaise sighed happily, stretching out on the grass. "You could look more cheerful, Harriet , we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."

　　Harriet was rubbing her forehead.

"I wish I knew what this means!" She burst out angrily. "My scar keeps hurting -- it's happened before, but never as often as this."

"Go to Madam Pomfrey,"Pansy suggested.

"I'm not ill," said Harry. "I think it's a warning... it means danger..."

Blaise couldn't get worked up, it was too hot.

"I did some parental questioning. As it turns out,  Nicholas Flamel  is dead and the stone was given to his wife who was murdered by someone. I'd bet that the Stone was taken by that person who then gave it to Dumbledore.  Or it was Dumbledore himself. Either way, We need to get it out of Dumbledore's clutches. The teacher's were probably forced into warding it and then threatened into keeping their mouths shut." Draco said. He glanced at the astronomy tower nervously as if he expected Dumbledore to be watching them, poised to kill because they knew too much.

Harriet nodded,"exactly! "

Suddenly, Theo ran up to them.  
"Dumbledore's in London.  If anyone wants the stone tonight's the night the try to steal it. Also I couldn't help overhearing Draco's rant. If it's  all true, We need to get that stone out of Hogwarts. " 

　"Right, here's what we've got to do," Harriet whispered urgently. "Crabbe, Goyle,  You two go back to the common room , tell Millicent what's going on. Then tonight you three are going to cover for the rest of us whilst we go down that trap door. Theo, We'll need some of that scent neutralising potion to get past the dog. Also ,  I have an invisibility cloak but it only fits three people so if they ask you where we are you know nothing. Draco, Pansy welcome to the A team. Blaise, help Theo. Fall out"

They got to work, grabbing the things they needed. At midnight they snook out of the common room their pockets filled with random things they thought they might need.

　　They didn't meet anyone until they reached the staircase up to the third floor. Peeves was bobbing halfway up, loosening the carpet so that people would trip.

"Who's there?" he said suddenly as they climbed toward him. He narrowed his wicked black eyes. "Know you're there, even if I can't see you. Are you ghoulie or ghostie or wee student beastie?"

He rose up in the air and floated there, squinting at them.

"Should call Filch, I should, if something's a-creeping around unseen."

Draco had a sudden idea.

"Peeves," he said, in a hoarse whisper, "the Bloody Baron has his own reasons for being invisible."

Peeves almost fell out of the air in shock. He caught himself in time and hovered about a foot off the stairs.

"So sorry, your bloodiness, Mr. Baron, Sir," he said greasily. "My mistake, my mistake -- I didn't see you -- of course I didn't, you're invisible -- forgive old Peevsie his little joke, sir."

"I have business here, Peeves," croaked Draco. "Stay away from this place tonight."

"I will, sir, I most certainly will," said Peeves, rising up in the air again. "Hope your business goes well, Baron, I'll not bother you."

And he scooted off

"Brilliant, Draco!" whispered Harriet .

　　A few seconds later, they were there, outside the third-floor corridor -- and the door was already ajar.

　　Seeing the open door somehow seemed to impress upon all three of them what was facing them. Harriet pushed the door open.

As the door creaked, low, rumbling growls met their ears. The dog sniffed about and laid back down to sleep. It seemed that the scent neutralising potion was doing it's job. Harriet made a mental note to thank Theo and Blaise if she somehow survived this. They slipped out of the cloak and crept toward the trapdoor. They could feel the dog's hot, smelly breath as they approached the giant heads. "I think we'll be able to pull the door open," said Pansy , peering over the dog's back. "Want to go first, Draco?"

"No, I don't!"

" Just kidding" Pansy said and looked down at the open trapdoor.  
" What can you see?" Harriet asked.  
"Nothing -- just black -- there's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop."

Harriet climbed over the dog and looked down through the trapdoor. There was no sign of the bottom.

She lowered herself through the hole until she was hanging on by her fingertips. 

"See you in a minute, I hope..." was the last thing she said before letting go. Cold, damp air rushed past her as she fell down, down, down and -- FLUMP. With a funny, muffled sort of thump he landed on something soft. She sat up and felt around, her eyes not used to the gloom. It felt as though she was sitting on some sort of plant.

　　"It's okay!" She called up to the light the size of a postage stamp, which was the open trapdoor, "it's a soft landing, you can jump!"

Pansy followed right away. He landed, sprawled next to Harry.

　　"What's this stuff?" were her first words.

　　"Dunno, some sort of plant thing. I suppose it's here to break the fall. Come on, Draco!"

He landed next to her.

　　"We must be miles under the school , "he said.

　　"Lucky this plant thing's here, really," said Pansy.

　　"Lucky!" Exclaimed Draco. "Look at you both!"

He leapt up and struggled toward a damp wall. He had to struggle because the moment he had landed, the plant had started to twist snakelike tendrils around his ankles. As for Harriet  and Pansy, their legs had already been bound tightly in long creepers without their noticing.  
"Stop moving!" Draco  ordered them. "I know what this is -- it's Devil's Snare!"

　　"Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help," snarled Pansy, leaning back, trying to stop the plant from curling around her neck. "Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" said Draco.

　　"Light!" Harriet gasped, wrestling with it as it curled around her  chest.

　　"Oh, right!" said Draco, and she whipped out his wand, waved it, said ,"teine ghairm,"  and sent a jet of blue fire at the plant. In a matter of seconds, the two girls felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth. Wriggling and flailing, it unraveled itself from their bodies, and they were able to pull free.  
"Thanks," Harriet and Pansy managed.

"This way," said Harriet, pointing down a stone passageway, which was the only way forward.

　　All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. The passageway sloped downward.

"Can you hear something?" Pansy whispered.

Harriet and Draco listened. A soft rustling and clinking seemed to be coming from up ahead.

"Do you think it's a ghost?"  
"I don't know... sounds like wings to me."  
"There's light ahead -- I can see something moving."

They reached the end of the passageway and saw before them a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy wooden door.  
Draco ran across the room and tried the door, giving it a sneer of disgust when it wouldn't budge. The other two followed him. They tugged and heaved at the door, but it wouldn't budge, not even when Harriet tried an Alohomora charm.  
"Now what?" said Pansy.

　　"These birds... they can't be here just for decoration," said Harriet.

They watched the birds soaring overhead, glittering -- glittering?

"They're not birds!" Draco said suddenly. "They're keys! Winged keys -- look carefully. So that must mean..." he looked around the chamber while the other two squinted up at the flock of keys. "... yes -- look! A broomstick ! Someone's  got to catch the key to the door!"

"But there are hundreds of them!"

Pansy examined the lock on the door.

"We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one -- probably silver, like the handle."

Before anyone could say anything,  Draco had siezed the broom and was up in the air and after the key.  
After a minute's weaving about through the whirl of rainbow feathers, he noticed a large silver key that had a bent wing, as if it had already been caught and stuffed roughly into the keyhole. He raced after it. After about 2 minutes he had caught it and was unlocking the door.  
　  
"Ready?" He asked the other two, his hand on the door handle. They nodded. He pulled the door open.

The next chamber was so dark they couldn't see anything at all. But as they stepped into it, light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing sight.  
They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, were the white pieces. Harry, Ron and Hermione shivered slightly -- the towering white chessmen had no faces.  
"Now what do we do?" Pansy  whispered.  
"It's obvious, isn't it?" said Harriet . "We've got to play our way across the room."  
Behind the white pieces they could see another door.  
"How?" said Pansy nervously.  
"We're going to have to be chessmen.This needs thinking about. I suppose we've got to take the place of three of the black pieces...." Draco trailed off.  
Pansy stayed quiet, watching Draco and Harriet  think. Finally Harriet said, "Draco, you take the place of that bishop, and Pansy, you go next to him instead of that castle."  
"What about you?"  
"I'm going to be a knight," said Harriet .  
The chessmen seemed to have been listening, because at these words a knight, a bishop, and a castle turned their backs on the white pieces and walked off the board, leaving three empty squares that they took.  
A white pawn had moved forward two squares.  
Harriet  started to direct the black pieces. They moved silently wherever he sent them. Pansy's knees were trembling. What if they lost?  
"Draco-- move diagonally four squares to the right."  
Their first real shock came when their other knight was taken. The white queen smashed him to the floor and dragged him off the board, where he lay quite still, facedown.  
"Had to let that happen," said Harriet, looking shaken. "Leaves you free to take that bishop, Pansy, go on."  
Every time one of their men was lost, the white pieces showed no mercy. However, there were a lot of white pieces slumped against the wall.  
　　"We're nearly there," Harriet muttered suddenly. "Let me think let me think...Oh right, Draco listen up. I'm going to take the queen. That bishop will move towards Pansy who is safe seeing as she is on a black square and the bishop only goes on the white ones. You then checkmate the king. Got it?"  
Draco nodded.  
They made their moves and won the game. Then they hurried through the door at the other end of the room.  
"We've had Sprout's, that was the Devil's Snare; Flitwick must've put charms on the keys; McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them alive; that leaves Quirrell's spell, and Snape's." Pansy said.  
They had reached another door.  
"All right?" Harriet whispered.  
"Go on."  
Harriet pushed it open.  
A disgusting smell filled their nostrils, making all of them pull their robes up over their noses. Eyes watering, they saw, flat on the floor in front of them, a troll even larger than the one they had tackled, out cold with a bloody lump on its head.  
"I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one," Draco whispered as they stepped carefully over one of its massive legs. "Come on, I can't breathe."  
He pulled open the next door, both of them hardly daring to look at what came next - but there was nothing very frightening in here, just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line.  
"Snape's," said Harry. "What do we have to do?"  
They stepped over the threshold, and immediately a fire sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn't ordinary fire either; it was purple. At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onward. They were trapped.  
"Look!" Draco seized a roll of paper lying next to the bottles. Harry looked over her shoulder to read it:  
Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,  
Two of us will help you, which ever you would find,  
One among us seven will let you move ahead,  
Another will transport the drinker back instead,  
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,  
Three of us are killers, waiting bidden in line.  
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,  
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:  
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide  
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;  
Second, different are those who stand at either end,  
But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;  
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,  
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;  
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right  
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.  
Draco let out a great sigh and Harriet, amazed, saw that he was smiling, the very last thing she felt like doing.

"Brilliant," said Draco. "This isn't magic -- it's logic -- a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here forever. Everything we need is here on this paper. Seven bottles: three are poison; two are wine; one will get us safely through the black fire, and one will get us back through the purple."

"But how do we know which to drink?" Pansy asked

"Give me a minute."

Draco read the paper several times. Then he walked up and down the line of bottles, muttering to himself and pointing at them. At last, he clapped his hands.

　　"Got it," he said. "The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire -- toward the Stone."

Harriet looked at the tiny bottle.

"There's only enough there for one of us," she said. "That's hardly one swallow."  
They looked at each other.  
"Which one will get you back through the purple flames?"  
Draco pointed at a rounded bottle at the right end of the line.  
"You two drink that," said Harriet. "No, listen, you both have parents. I'm an orphan and I have no one at home who will miss me . I'll get the stone or die trying. Also you two are some of the best and only friends I've ever had.Im not letting you die."  
Then she downed the bottle and ran through the flames.  
There was already someone there -- It was Professor Quirrell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment or Kudo. Thanx.


	15. The final Showdown and Goodbyes

It was Quirrell.  
"You! What are you doing here? I mean we were expecting someone. Just not you" gasped Harry. Then things started to piece together in her brain. He had been sent to get the stone for someone else. Someone who didn't trust or like Dumbledore. That was probably a good thing.  
"Who is he? The person you are working for?"She demanded to know.  
Quirrell smiled. His face wasn't twitching at all.  
"My master," he said calmly. "Is none of your concern. He needs the stone and I am going to get it to him."  
"Well at the moment I suppose anyone is better than Dumbledore."  
Quirrell chuckled, "Yes. That much is true."  
" I'm guessing you are working for Voldemort then?"  
" How did you-"Quirrell started.  
"Find out? Elementary Quirrell. For one you wear a turban all the time and you neither belong to a religion nor come from a place where they wear them.Also the African prince story you told us was a bluff. Everyone knows that.  Secondly, I know Voldemort is not dead. He probably used a dark magic spell to fuse himself to the back of your head so he could survive. I've read about them. Third, I'm not stupid. So, now that's cleared up, I'm going to help you get the stone because I am not leaving it in Dumbledore's hands because it is or should be a universally known fact that that's bad news and my friends and I worked very hard to get it out of this place. Why am I still talking? We're wasting time. What is Dumbledore's test anyway?"  
"This mirror. I see it. I see myself holding the stone. But how do I get it?!"  
"Let the girl try." A third voice joined the conversation.  It had a cold edge to it and sounded snake like.  
Harriet walked towards the mirror and stared at it. She saw herself. Mirror her winked and pulled the stone out of her pocket. She felt a weight in said pocket. Mirror her grinned and disappeared.  
"Well Potter, what do you see? Where is the stone?"Quirrell asked. He looked like a kid on Christmas day, just the creepy, slightly deranged version.  
"Well let's say it's in this room and I'll tell you where after I've spoken with Voldemort. " Harriet said calmly. She wasn't scared at all. Due to life with the Dursley's she had developed a mechanism that made sure she stayed calm in any given social situation. Especially when someone could potentially get mad at her.  
"Let me speak to the child." Came the voice.  
"Master, you are not strong enough. " Quirrell said.  
" I have enough strength for this"  
Quirrell turned his back to Harriet and unraveled his turban.  
" Harriet Potter, we meet again. Now you see what Dumbledore made of me. That night in which your parents died and you got that scar was a tragedy."  
Voldemort looked terrible.  Even for someone who's face had been glued to the back of someone else's head.  
"I am not at fault for your parents death. In fact it was I that took an unbreakable vow with Snape to let no harm come to you or your parents. They were loyal friends and put up a great act during their time at hogwarts. They simply knew too many of Dumbledore's secrets and recognised him for what he was. A manipulative evil. Therefore they had to go. According to Dumbledore at least. He stormed your house in disguise. You survived because of your mother. What she did, I do not know. But I do know that he will not be able to touch you."  
"Well," Harriet said, " as far as the second point of view goes. That actually makes sense. If I ever find out you are lying,  I will stop at nothing to take you down. I hope that's clear.  Here's the stone. Good luck."  
Harriet handed over the stone.  
"Thank you. " Voldemort said, " And you will find out that I am not lying. For now, I am afraid I must leave. I will put a sleep spell on you and make it look like there was a fight. We will see each other again sooner than you think."  
"Sorry wha-" Harriet hit the floor fast asleep.

When she woke up she was greeted by a face above her. She screeched and hit it. Crabbe staggered back.  
" Oh , I am so sorry. I did not mean to hit you. Oh hey, I'm in the hospital wing. And everyone else is hear too. Someone hand me a Chocolate Frog. "  
She croaked.  
Pansy complied.  
" What happened? " Blaise asked.  
"I can't tell you now. Wait till we're on the train to King's Cross. It'll be safe to talk then."  
" OK.  We're the talk of the school. First year slytherins standing up to the dark lord. " Pansy said. Then lowering her voice,"If only they knew."  
Everyone laughed.  
The end of term banquet was fun. They stuffed their faces. Harriet acted like it was the last meal. Which it possibly could be. Slytherin won the house and Quidditch cup followed by Ravenclaw , Hufflepuff and then Gryffindor.  
On the train Harriet told them about what had happened as promised. They agreed that it had been for the best. Once they got to King's Cross, they said their goodbyes. Then they all went to their respective families and went home. Harriet looking forward to the next school year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the characters seemed a little ooc. Comment or Kudo. Thanx.

**Author's Note:**

> So, what did you think?  
> Please leave a comment so I know how I did.


End file.
